Craftsman 917.377410 Owner's Manual page 8

MULCHING MOWING TIPS •
IMPORTANT:For
best performance, keep
mower housing free of built-up grass and
trash. See "Cleaning" in MAINTENANCE
section of this manual.
• The special mulching blade will recur the
grass clippings many times and reduce
them in size so that as they fall onto the
lawn they will disperse into the grass and
not be noticed. ALso, the mulched grass
will biodegrade quickly to provide nutrients
for the lawn. Always mulch with your •
highest engine (blade) speed as this will
provide the best recutting action of the
blades.
• Avoid cutting your lawn when it is wet. Wet
grass tends to form clumps and interferes •
with the mulching action. The best time to
mow your lawn is the early afternoon. At
this time the grass has dried and the newly
cut area will not be exposed to the direct
sun.
For best results, adjust the lawn mower
cutting height so that the lawn mower cuts
off only the top one-third of the grass
blades. If the lawn is overgrown it will be
necessary to raise the height of cut to
reduce pushing effort and to keep from
overloading the engine and leaving
clumps of mulched grass. For extremely
heavy mulching, reduce your width of cut
by overlapping previously cut path and
mow slowly.
Certain types of grass and grass conditions
may require that an area be mulched a
second time to completely hide the
clippings. When doing a second cut, mow
across or perpendicular to the first cut path.
Change your cutting pattern from week to
week. Mow north to south one week then
change to east to west the next week. This
will help prevent matting and graining of
the lawn.
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